


Oct 9: Moon

by MadhouseVagabond



Series: Scarefest Challenges 2017 [9]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Aliens, Death, FYRTFF Scarefest Challenge 2017, Fear, Gen, M/M, jeremwood, moon base, running for their lives, scarefest challenge, space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 17:17:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12325401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadhouseVagabond/pseuds/MadhouseVagabond
Summary: When Ryan volunteered for the Lunar Project he thought being on the moon base would be fun. He had no idea the place would soon become a house of horrors.





	Oct 9: Moon

Ryan sighed as he patrolled the halls of the station. He'd been assigned the graveyard shift and it was beginning to take its toll on him. Normally he wouldn't have minded the long hours because Jeremy would meet him in sector seven and walk with him, the younger man's company much appreciated. When Ryan had signed up for the Lunar Project he was expecting more...thrill, adventure; not this walking down empty hallways bullshit. He'd always been fascinated with space so when he'd been presented with the opportunity to travel to the new moon base by Captains Ramsey and Pattillo he'd jumped at the chance; now it all just seemed like a waste of time.

On the bright side he was almost to sector seven and his spirits began to pick up at the thought of spending time with Jeremy. If there was anything Ryan was thankful for from this worthless mission, it was that he'd met the younger man, the two instantly becoming friends and hanging out at every opportunity. He'd shocked Jeremy with his knowledge and skills in video games and so that's how the two spent a good portion of their time, teaming up to destroy the hopes and dreams of every twelve year old weeb on the internet. Jeremy was becoming Ryan's favorite part about space.

Rounding the corner Ryan looked around expectantly, but saw no sign of the shorter man. He checked his holo pad to see if Jeremy had left him a message saying he wasn't able to meet tonight, but he saw nothing. Confused, Ryan looked around again for any sign of Jeremy, but upon finding none he shrugged and prepared himself for a long boring night as he continued very bitterly down the hall.

"Is it just too much to ask to have one nice consistent thing in my life?" Ryan muttered, imagining Jeremy's response.

_Life will take every opportunity to fuck you buddy._

He smiled slightly at that, almost hearing Jeremy's voice. Ryan continued down the halls, having imaginary conversations with Jeremy to ward off his boredom, when he noticed something strange. He'd made his was to sector thirteen when the air suddenly felt colder, and strange black puddles of ooze were scattered across the floor.

"What the hell?" he asked and moved forward cautiously. The puddles became more frequent and upon further inspection Ryan found that they were a sort of warmish, sticky substance that he was unfamiliar with.

"Commander Jones this is Commander Haywood, something weird is going on in sector thirteen," he said into his comm badge.

"How so Ryan?" Commander Michael Jones replied.

"Some sort of weird ooze is covering the floor and the environmental systems must be damaged because the temperature here is colder than it should be," Ryan reported as he scanned the area.

"Do you think there's a small breech and it's leaking in some sort of plasma from the planet's surface?" Michael asked.

"I'm not seeing any indication that..." Ryan began.

"Commander Haywood! Commander Jones! Help!"

Ryan froze when he heard the voice. It was Jeremy! The lad sounded panicked and Ryan could just barely make out some sort of weird sound like a hissing gurgle in the background.

"Jeremy what's wrong? Where are you?" Ryan asked.

"It's inside! We need to contain it before it gets to the populated areas!" Jeremy replied and then uttered a scream.

"Jeremy!" both Ryan and Michael yelled.

"Nova, locate subject Crewman Dooley, Jeremy!" Ryan shouted at the AI unit that helped run the ship.

"Subject Dooley is on deck seven, sector nineteen," Nova replied calmly. That wasn't too far from where Ryan was.

"I've got Jeremy, try to figure out what's happening!" Ryan said to Michael before running down the hall towards the deck transporter.

"Jeremy I'm coming! Hold on bud!" he shouted into his comm.

"Hurry Ryan! It's catching up to me!" Jeremy's voice came back and Ryan's heart broke when he heard the fear there. After waiting impatiently for the transport to get him to the correct sector Ryan burst out into the hall and took off in the direction he knew Jeremy was at last. The temperature was cold here too and the black ooze was thicker and covered more of the floor, weird grey ash-like particles falling from the ceiling with no visible source. Ryan ran as fast as he could and soon he was at the right place.

"Jeremy I'm right outside the door, can you make it to me?" he asked quietly into his comm.

"Ryan, its right there!" Jeremy breathed the whisper. Ryan pulled out a small object from his utility belt and held it to his eyes, counting down the three seconds before opening them to allow his eyes to adjust. The device allowed him to look through the walls and solid objects into the room. He saw Jeremy hiding in a locker, peering out of the small vents. Ryan wasn't sure what he was hiding from until he heard a strange growling clicking noise from behind the door near his face. Removing the device and putting it away Ryan backed a few feet up from the door.

"Jeremy I need you to listen carefully, okay?" he said. Jeremy offered a small whimper of fear in reply.

"When whatever the fuck is in there with you leaves the room, I need you to run as fast as you can to sector ten. Meet me there in the loading bay. Got it buddy?" he explained urgently.

"Sure pal, but how is it going to leave?" Jeremy asked softly. Ryan bit his lip and took a deep breath.

"Hey! You in there! Come out here and get me!" Ryan shouted as he ran past the door and hit the button on the panel to open it as he did. Without looking back he ran as fast as he could, hearing scrambling behind him and the panting of whatever creature had invaded his moon base. He just hoped that Jeremy followed his instructions as he darted through several rooms, pulling furniture and clutter down behind him hoping to slow the creature down.

When the sounds of pursuit weren't as loud Ryan darted into the loading bay of sector ten, crouch walking quickly behind several stacks of rations and materials they'd received in their last supply drop. He crouched in the shadows behind a rack of metal pipes and calmed his breathing as he watched the door. To his horror he watched as a grotesque shape slowly stepped into view and gazed into the room. The creature walked on all fours but its upper body and head appeared humanoid, its hands tipped with sharp claws, pointed ears on the sides of its head, completely bald. It's mid section looked like some sort of hairy beast like a monkey or something, it's legs looking like the hind legs of a panther and also tipped with the claws, a long barbed tail thrashing behind it. Ryan went pale at the sight. What kind of creature was that?! He was particularly drawn to the sharp fangs that stuck out slightly from the creature's mouth, drool dripping out of its mouth and onto the floor, the black ooze forming there. After a moment of swinging it's head back and forth the creature finally left, scurrying off faster than anything Ryan had ever seen anything move before.

"Jeremy, where are you?" Ryan whispered into his comm once he'd breathed a silent breath he was holding.

"I'm over by the replacement panel parts stacked up," Jeremy replied. Ryan nodded and slowly made his way there, finding the younger man sitting on the floor hidden, hugging his knees to his chest and rocking slightly. When he saw Ryan tears filled his eyes and he latched onto the older man, hugging him tightly.

"Oh Ryan, thank Christ! I was sure I was gonna die!" he said in a strained voice.

"I'll never let anything bad happen to you Lil' J," Ryan said and returned the hug, finding his own eyes wet with tears. He couldn't imagine life without Jeremy.

"What happened?" Ryan asked.

"I was on my way to meet you when Crewman Coal asked me to help him take a bit of inventory of one of the supply closets I was gonna message you but I got there faster than I thought. When I got there the room was dark and cold and smelled like shit. I flicked on the lights and when I did on the window facing the moons dark hemisphere was a weird black ooze covering it, strange grey stuff was floating in the air, like ash or snow or some shit. But that's not the worst part. That was when I saw that...thing crouched in the corner tearing Coal's body apart and eating it!" Jeremy sobbed and buried his head against Ryan's chest. Ryan felt sick and hugged Jeremy tighter.

"I'm sorry you had to see that and that it almost got you," he said. Jeremy trembled and Ryan felt bad when he finally released the smaller man for a moment.

"Commander Jones I've got Dooley, he's scared and a bit winded but otherwise unhurt. We have a situation, there's a hostile creature on board, one that's already killed one of our Crewmen, Flynt Coal," Ryan said into his comm. there was static for a minute and Ryan grew worried.

"Michael?" he asked, glancing over to see Jeremy going pale. More static.

"Haywood! Get out now! They're everywhere...killing everyone...escape...save yourself!" Michael's voice suddenly cut through the static but that wasn't the only sound. Screams from the rest of the bridge crew could be heard as well as roars from the creatures. Ryan and Jeremy heard Michael screaming for Captain Ramsey before his screams got cut out by a terrifying screech. Ryan looked at Jeremy and made the decision there and then.

Fuck this!

Grabbing Jeremy by the hand he darted out into the hallway, taking the most backwards route to the shuttle bay on deck eight.

"Ryan I'm scared! What are we gonna do?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm getting us out of here. We're getting on a shuttle and heading to earth!" Ryan said as they rushed down the halls, keeping eyes peeled for signs of the creatures.

"We can't leave them Ryan," Jeremy said but didn't sound convinced himself.

"I won't let them hurt you! I can't live without you Jeremy!" Ryan nearly shouted, pain in his voice. Jeremy looked at him surprised.

"What..what are you saying?" he asked.

"I can't lose you Jeremy, I won't! If anyone survives they'll be heading to the shuttles too, but my priority here is getting you out!" Ryan said, slowing down and stopping them to peer around a corner before continuing on.

"Ry, you'd do that for me?" Jeremy asked still surprised. Ryan halted and turned to look at Jeremy, smiling slightly.

"Of course Jeremy! I-I..." he started to say, that's when the lights went out.

"Oh fuck," Jeremy whispered.

"Keep hold of me and don't let go," Ryan said and took Jeremy's hand, turning on his flashlight and darting down the halls again. The emergency lights flickered every now and then, lighting the place up with a few seconds of red glowing light. After a moment Ryan paused and held a finger to his lips. The two listened and they could hear sounds of crunching and soft growls ahead.

"Oh fuck! Oh fuck, shit on my dick they're right there!" Jeremy said softly and began to tremble again. Ryan looked around as he turned off his flashlight, looking for something they could use.

There!

Ryan guided Jeremy to the ventilation tube vent and with his help pried it open, the vent just big enough for the two of them to crawl through. Pushing Jeremy in ahead of him Ryan pulled the cover back as close as he could before they began to crawl.

"Nova, I need you to give me some schematics on these vents and guide us to the shuttle bay," Ryan spoke softly.

"With pleasure Commander Haywood. You're roughly one hundred yards away from the shuttle bay, and if you continue through these ducts you'll need to take a right in ten yards," Nova said. Jeremy nodded and led the way, the two remaining quiet so as not to attract attention from the creatures.

"What's going on Nova? What are these things? Are the rest of the crew okay?" Ryan asked next.

"No known data available on these creatures, but their behavior seems to be purely predatorily, and they seem to be well adjusted to the climate of space, so perhaps they live here on the moon or are from another planet," Nova explained. "As for the rest of the crew, over ninety are dead and several others unaccounted for."

Ryan swallowed hard at that and tried not to let it get to his head. Aliens, that was only something that happened in movies wasn't it? He tried not to think about all the dead people, many of whom had been his friends. To get his mind off it Ryan focused on Jeremy, blushing when he found himself admiring the man's ass. As if the universe didn't find enough reasons to make Ryan's life hell as soon as he thought about it Jeremy paused and looked back, smiling slightly.

"Hope you're not enjoying the view back there too much buddy," he said with a wink. Ryan blushed deeply when Jeremy gave his ass a slight shake, an intentional tease, and glanced away, smiling when he heard Jeremy chuckle.

"What can I say, it's the nicest thing to look at back here," he replied. The two chuckled but then froze when they heard a noise. It was faint and far away but it was enough to stop their hearts.

Distant clanging that was slowly growing louder. Jeremy looked at Ryan, eyes wide, Ryan swallowing and quietly speaking into his comm.

"Nova, are they in the tubes with us?" he asked, praying that the answer was no.

"Affirmative," Nova said.

"Shit!" Ryan exclaimed and urged Jeremy on, the two quickening their pace.

"Ryan we gotta get out of here!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"Nova how far are we from the shuttle bay?" Ryan asked quickly.

"Your present location puts you at fifty yards," she replied.

"At our current speed how soon until they overtake us?" Ryan asked.

"If you continue at the same speed they'll catch you in roughly three minutes, unless they quicken their pace," Nova said.

"Jeremy go!" Ryan exclaimed and the two took off, crawling as fast as they could, the distant clanging drawing closer.

"Hurry Ryan! We can do this!" Jeremy exclaimed. The two men moved with a speed fueled by desperation and fear, their adrenaline giving them seemingly unending energy.

After a moment Jeremy gave a cry of relief at the sight of the exit vent ahead of them. Crawling to it he turned and kicked with all his strength, sending the vent cover sailing through the air. Without hesitating he leapt out of the vent, falling to the floor six feet below and rolling with his landing, grunting slightly in pain. Ryan followed him and helped him to his feet, the two dragging themselves towards the closest shuttle, Jeremy limping slightly.

"Nova, prep and ready shuttle B6-G78 and open the bay doors on my mark!" Ryan shouted into the comm. Nova complied and the lights of the shuttle came on, the engine roaring to life.

"Hurry Ryan!" Jeremy yelled glancing back at the vent, hearing the clanging growing louder. The two dashed to the shuttle and into the small thing, Ryan sitting in the cockpit and Jeremy collapsing on the floor near the ramp.

"Close the ramp door," Ryan called. Jeremy nodded and reached for the control panel. That's when the barbed tail of one of the creatures snagged his wrist.

With a cry of fear and surprise Jeremy was yanked hard out of the shuttle, falling to the ramp and being dragged down it.

"Ryan! Help me!" he screamed.

"Jeremy!" Ryan screamed and jumped to his feet, reaching for the small gun that was kept under the pilot's seat. Darting down the ramp Ryan rushed after the creature dragging Jeremy towards it, seeing several more leap out of the vent. Jeremy was screaming and clawing to get away, tears streaking his cheeks as death slowly neared him.

"No!" Ryan shouted and took aim. Firing once he hit the creature dead center between its eyes, the creature roaring in pain before falling dead to the floor. Rushing forward Ryan fired three more shots at the approaching aliens, killing two as he reached down and hauled Jeremy to his feet, shoving him behind him.

"Get inside and strap in!" he ordered.

"But what about you? I won't leave you Ry!" Jeremy cried.

"Damn it Dooley do it! I'll be right behind you!" Ryan said urgently and fired again. Jeremy hesitated for a second but nodded and darted up the ramp, strapping himself into the copilot' seat with the safety mesh.

Ryan glanced behind him to see that Jeremy was safe before firing several more shots, each one finding its mark. That was five more of the alien creatures down, but many more were at the vent dropping to the floor now. Firing the last few rounds in his gun Ryan turned and ran up the ramp, slamming his hand on the panel, shutting the door.

"Jeremy on my mark release the pressure clamps and raise the landing gear!" Ryan called.

"Got it Ryan!" Jeremy called hovering over the button. Ryan glanced out the viewport window to see how close the aliens were. They were certainly closing the distance.

"Nova open the doors now and activate the emergency vacuum!" he yelled. At his command Nova opened the pressurized titanium hangar doors and activated an emergency protocol which disabled the containment shield, the vacuum of space now flooding the hangar, all loose objects flying away into the darkness of space.

"Now Jeremy!" Ryan shouted and Jeremy slammed his hand down on the button, the magnetized pressure clams holding the ship in place were released and they began to drift forwards, the landing gear raising just in time before they had a chance to be broken off when the shuttle hit the hangar floor and skidded towards the entrance. Ryan made his way to the cockpit and strapped in, hand hovering over the accelerator.

"I hope this works," he said quietly as he counted down in his head. On the right mark he slammed the accelerator forward and grabbed the wheel, pulling up slightly, the shuttle launching forward at a breakneck speed and raising off the floor just in time to clear the opening.

"Nova activate the emergency shields of the hangar quickly!" Ryan shouted, the AI complying and when Jeremy and Ryan glanced back they saw the shields go up just in time to catch the creatures as they got sucked towards them, trapping them in the hangar.

"Next stop, earth!" Ryan cheered and set the coordinates before sending them into the slipstream that would get them to earth in approximately fourteen hours. The two men cheered and Jeremy threw himself into Ryan's arms, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you for saving me back there, I thought that was the end of the line," he sobbed as the adrenaline wore off. Ryan squeezed Jeremy back and started crying too, both men sitting on the floor in each other's embrace.

"I wasn't going to let them hurt you. They weren't going to take you from me!" he said tearfully back. Jeremy pulled away slightly and looked into Ryan's perfect blue eyes.

"What were you about to say to me back there, in the halls before the lights went out?" he asked. Ryan blushed and looked down.

"I-I, it was...I was going to tell you..." he stumbled over his words, trying to find the right way to say them. Suddenly he felt Jeremy take his bearded chin between his thumb and finger and raise his head so that they were again looking at each other's eyes. Jeremy smiled and then leaned in and kissed Ryan, a soft gentle kiss. Ryan was surprised but kissed back, happiness filling him. When they parted Jeremy smiled at him and winked.

"Me too Ry," he said.


End file.
